What's Safer for Removing Bryopsis? High Mg or Fluconazole?

[FishguyJosh]

I'm dealing with an outbreak of bryopsis in my 32g biocube. I have a fairly full tank of softies, LPS, some SPS, and a BTA. I also have a refugium going with copepods. What's a safer way to eliminate bryopsis...using elevated Magnesium over 1500 or dosing with Reef Flux (Fluconazole)? I want to use the Reef Flux but concerned about harming the corals and ecosystem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I personally do not think magnesium itself kills bryopsis. When folks were doing it, it seemed to be brand dependent, suggesting it was an impurity rather than the magnesium.

 

[FishguyJosh]

I personally do not think magnesium itself kills bryopsis. When folks were doing it, it seemed to be brand dependent, suggesting it was an impurity rather than the magnesium.

Yeah the one article I read online mentioned using the specific product "brightwell aquatics hydrate magnesium"

 

[mfinn]

Yeah the one article I read online mentioned using the specific product "brightwell aquatics hydrate magnesium"

Actually it was Tech M and that was years ago. They stopped making that formula.

 

[Max93]

I used fluconazole. However, I think you should try manual removal every day for two weeks. Based on your picture I barely see any bryopsis.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Does fluconazole kill macro algae like Chaeto ?

 

[mfinn]

Does bryopsis kill macro algae like Chaeto ?

I've never heard of it killing chaeto, but it probably would out compete it for food.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Does bryopsis kill macro algae like Chaeto ?

Did you mean to ask if flucanozole kills chaeto? Bryopsis doesn't directly kill anything that I'm aware of...

 

[mdb_talon]

Actually it was Tech M and that was years ago. They stopped making that formula.

Treating Bryopsis Algae With Brightwell Aquatics Hydrat-MG | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

There's many different kinds of nuisance algae that can cause problems in the reef aquarium and Bryopsis can be one of the worst, or one of the 'best' depending on your perspective.

reefbuilders.com

 

[mfinn]

Treating Bryopsis Algae With Brightwell Aquatics Hydrat-MG | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

There's many different kinds of nuisance algae that can cause problems in the reef aquarium and Bryopsis can be one of the worst, or one of the 'best' depending on your perspective.

reefbuilders.com

Interesting.
But I remember all the debates on whether it was only Tech M that had the impurities that killed byopsis. It went back and forth for a long time. But in the end it seemed like it was only Tech M.

Looks like the instagram post was from 4-5 years ago. Haven't heard if others are having success. Be nice if it did.
I personally used TechM on 2 different occasions and it worked great, with zero side affects on the corals I had at the time. I even bought a 1 gallon container of it to have just in case.
I held on to that Tech M for probably 10 years before realizing it had turned into something else. (Black and smelled very bad.)
Good information to have.
Thanks for the link

 

[Morpheosz]

I am in the same boat. I have a 7 month old 75 gallon tank that I've been battling bryopsis in for about 4 months. I'm not sure how I introduced it as I started with dry rock and carefully inspected everything that went in and removed most plugs, etc, but I guess there are always things you can't see

I have used fluconazole twice and it looks like it works magic, but then a month or so later it starts creeping back. I too came across the Tech M posts and thought I would try that but then read elsewhere on this forum that that no longer works due to them changing the formula. I also tried just covering up the returning bits with epoxy as someone else suggested but that is turning into an endless game of whack-a-mole which also sucks.

In the two courses of fluconazole I did, nothing else was affected, including my ball of chaeto, but again, was only a retardant, not a cure for me. Others have said the same.

Would also love any other suggestions.